Chapter seven hundred and thirty sixth grain problem
In the history of the European continent, Venice is a very special existence. It is said that it is special because in the past crusades launched by the West against the Middle East, Venice played a very special role in it.
Venice was once a vassal state of Byzantine, but it was such a vassal state that captured and ransacked Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Later, important islands on the Mediterranean, including Cyprus and Crete, as well as areas on the Adriatic coast, were taken into consideration by Venice. Thanks to trade with the Mediterranean, the Republic of Venice became the richest country on the European continent.
one.
At that time, the navy of the Republic of Venice was also the main force of European countries' confrontation with pagans at sea.
In addition to looting Constantinople, the most famous Republic of Venice was the act of directly fighting with the Roman Pope. In 1508, in order to limit the development of the power of the Republic of Venice, the then Pope Julius II
, including Louis XII, King of France, Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire and Ferdinand II of the Aragon, formed the Cambray Alliance and went to war with Venice.
But the result caused an uproar in Europe. The Cambray League was unbeaten, while the Venetian Republic won.
"Your Majesty, do you want to teach those Venetians some lessons?"
Seeing William's eyes revealing badness when he saw William looking at the Venetian scouts cruising around the outside of the army, Hornder immediately whispered in William's ear.
This was the first time that the Prussians and Venetians came into contact with each other. After all, the traditional sphere of influence of Prussia was central and European. For the Northern Italy region to which Venice belongs, Prussia is a very distant existence. In addition to a small amount of trade exchanges between the two sides
There is almost no other contact outside.
After hearing Hornder say this, William was quite moved. After all, the current behavior of the Venetians is objectively a provocation to Prussia. William, as the Holy Roman Emperor who is about to receive the blessing of the pope in Rome, can be completely ok
Give the Venetians a little color and let them know what is the difference between the monarch and the minister!
However, Prince Henry, who was following William the other side, seemed to see the moving look on William's face. He only heard the old prince say:
"Your Majesty, it's better not to touch those Venetians for the time being. We have just entered Northern Italy now. We have not yet fully understood the attitudes of the city-states here towards us. At this time, it is the truth that we go directly to Rome and don't cause trouble with these countries.
!”
Prince Henry's words made William dispel his previous idea.
But then, Hornder said something again
"But, Your Majesty, the people we sent to Venice to buy food and grass have just returned. According to what he said, the merchants in Venice actually offered 20% of the price above the market, which is simply treating us Prussians as suckers!
”
When William's face suddenly became gloomy when he heard Hornder's words.
William went to Rome on this trip. With the princes of the empire and the army of guards who followed him, there were more than 30,000 people. Everyone ate horses and chewed them, and they needed to consume a lot of food and grass every day.
Obviously, if the Prussians rely on the Prussians to transport these food and grass from their homeland, it would be a slaughter. After all, if the food and grass transportation policy was adopted, then the food and grass would be consumed at least 10% to 30% on the road.
This is simply unavoidable.
Under such circumstances, the army's logistics can only rely more on purchasing food and grass from various places.
William had never encountered any food and grass problems along the way. After all, from Frankfurt to Austria, all the way was within the influence of Prussia. Even Austria, under the reality that Carl accompanied William to Rome, those Austrias were all within the influence of Prussia.
Even if people don't want to, they can only sell their food and grass to the Prussians.
Of course, this reluctance is only to some extent. After all, no one thinks that the less money they have, the better. The Prussians' clear price tag and fair price tag will naturally make these merchants earn some money.
At present, the Prussian army has just left Austria, and the army's logistics supplies have enough food and grass to consume for a month. Originally, these food and grass were just spares, after all, William wanted to come. He and the Venetians had no grudges and grudges, and the Venetians should not be in food and grass.
Restrict yourself.
But now that I think about it, William found that he was definitely thinking too much. These Venetians are really lawless!
The price of the Prussians purchasing food and grass was originally the market price, which also took into account the profits of merchants. In this case, if the Venetians had to raise the price by 20% on this basis, then it could be said that the Venetians would Prussians.
People are treated as kids!
"Didn't I ask you to send someone to deliver my handwritten letter to their parliament two weeks ago? Is the letter not delivered, or are the Venetians not going to buy my account!"
Hearing William's words, Hornder immediately said in a panic:
"Your Majesty, your handwritten letter has been sent to the Parliament of the Republic of Venice, but according to the report of the messenger, the people in the Parliament of Venice said that the purchase price of food and grass is determined by the market, and they have no way to buy food and grass for us and reduce the price!"
After Hornder said this, not only William's face looked ugly, but also Prince Henry's face became quite ugly.
No matter what, William after the crowning of Frankfurt can be called the co-lord of the Holy Roman Empire. Even if this co-lord has no real power over the following states, he still has to give him the minimum respect and face.
, but now it's better that the Venetians actually ignored William's handwritten letter.
After a while, William said meaningfully:
"It seems that some people are trying to provoke me openly. Do they think I won't kill the chicken to show the monkey!"
After saying that, William ordered to Henry:
"Your Highness, I will hand over the Fourth Division to you. You will immediately lead the Fourth Division to Venice and tell them that my patience is limited. If they insist on not providing food and grass for our army, then I will not
Mind that Venice is history!”
William's words are so domineering.
Originally, William was not prepared to make any big moves on the way to Rome. After all, he went to Rome to receive the blessing of the pope. In this case, he had just become the leader of the Holy Roman Empire, so he naturally wanted to create an empire.
A peaceful atmosphere.
However, this does not mean that William is ruthless to those who dare to provoke him directly. Moreover, William also believes that there is not only one Venice in the purchase of food and grass this time. Otherwise, an army of more than 10,000 people in Venice would dare to stand on William's side at most.
The opposite?
It was William who had such an idea in his mind that he ordered Henry to lead the Fourth Division to Venice. If the Venetians still had to go against William when the Fourth Division was in Venice, then William
I don’t mind killing the chicken to show the monkey!
What's more, killing a chicken to warn monkeys has always been one of the best ways for rulers to maintain their own rule.
Prince Henry and Hond were both clear about William's thoughts.
Just as William thought.
The Prussians purchased food and grass this time were manipulated by several forces behind the scenes.
For William, all the city-states of Northern Italy are very unfamiliar. After all, the traditional sphere of influence of Prussia is far north of the Holy Roman Empire, and for those city-states located in Northern Italy, they have never felt the pressure of Prussia.
Under such circumstances, their awe of Prussia naturally became much less.
To be honest, the northern Italian city-states, led by Milan and Venice, were very resistant to a Prussian ascending to the highest throne of the Holy Roman Empire, because for these city-states, their impression of the Prussians was still the barbarians.
stage!
After receiving William's handwritten letter from the Republic of Venice, they immediately held a meeting, but most of the members of the parliament were tough at the meeting, that is, the Prussians could buy food and grass, but they had to follow the rules of Venice.
They were not afraid of the secret threats of the Prussians. On the one hand, they did not believe that the Prussians dared to attack Venice. After all, Venice had an army of more than 10,000 people no matter what, and Venice, Pisa and Florence,
They have the same attitude towards the Prussians.
In this case, the Venetians believed that they had the support of the entire northern Italian city-states. Therefore, it was necessary to deliberately cause some trouble for the Prussians to understand that even though the Prussians could get the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, they were in the North.
The name of the Prussians is not feasible on this land of Italy!
Among the current northern Italian city-states, the largest is like Florence, the rulers of Pisa are members of the Habsburg family, while the rulers of Milan are members of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. These states have a characteristic,
That is, they all have considerable independence to a greater or lesser extent, and they all hate the Prussians quite a bit.
Originally, as a subsidiary state of the Habsburg family, Florence and Pisa, the two states, should have surrendered to William immediately after the arrival of the Prussian army. After all, Carl, the supreme leader of the Habsburg family, is Prussia
In the army.
But these two states did not choose to do this. Whether it was Florence or Pisa, although they were all under the rule of the Habsburg family, they all had their own independent status, and with Austria
After several civil unrest, the binding force of the Habsburg Orthodox on these Northern Italian states was also shrinking.
It is precisely because of this situation that after William arrived in Northern Italy, these countries not only did not choose to meet William as soon as possible, but even took the time to take action behind the Prussians.
"Sir, it's too risky for us to do this. Now we have disobeyed the meaning of the Prussians. It's hard to guarantee that Prussia will not go south. We will be in trouble at that time!"
A young man said worriedly to a middle-aged nobleman sitting upright on a chair.
This middle-aged nobleman has a fat figure, and his eyes are very slender and feminine. This person is one of the members of the 10-member Parliament of the Republic of Venice.
"I said Taclin, don't be nervous. The Prussians' target is Rome. We did not say that we would not sell food and grass, but because the Prussians demanded it was too high. In this case, the jealous merchants naturally
It’s time to raise prices, this is a market rule, not something we can interfere with!”
As he said that, the middle-aged nobleman raised his right hand and looked at the ruby ring on his right middle finger, with a hint of intoxication in his eyes.
This middle-aged nobleman is named Domingo.
Sevo, which originated from the famous Sevo family of the Republic of Venice, was extremely glorious in the history of the Republic of Venice. In 1071, the 31st President of the Republic of Venice led the Republic of Venice to officially rise in the Mediterranean, and at that time
The president comes from the Sevo family.
After that, for hundreds of years, no matter how the times changed, the Sevo family always occupied a place in the upper class of the Venetian Republic. Similar to the Sevo family, other members of the ten-member parliament of the Venetian Republic were also from ancient times.
The Venetian ruling family.
At present, this Taclin is a descendant of another powerful family in Venice. The Taclin family has always been a political ally of the Sevo family. It is also under this situation that Taclin became a member of the elders of the family.
The clerk of Domingo, who is currently one of the ten members of the parliament.
He is nominally a clerk, but in fact he is also one of the staff.
"Sir, but I always have a bad premonition in my heart. The Prussian king had just become the ruler of the empire. At this time, if this matter attacked us Venice, it would be very likely to establish his authority within the empire.
, So I think we will not discuss this matter anymore!”
As Domingo's clerk and aide, Tucklin was able to know a lot about the top leaders.
Although this Prussian food and grass incident seems to be just Venetian merchants raising the food and grass prices to make a profit, in fact, behind the incident is the struggle between several countries.
As early as after receiving the news that William was about to go to Rome, several city-states in northern Italy had frequent contacts in private. The attitudes towards the Prussians, these city-states who were once different from Dai Tian were surprisingly consistent, that is, hostility.
And in this case, they were unwilling to see the Prussians arrive in Rome smoothly, and then a Prussian wears the Holy Roman Empire crown. If they can cause some trouble to the Prussians, it is obviously very good.
, and later the Prussians purchased food and grass became their means to disturb the Prussians.
"Don't worry about that much, Taclin, you have to know that behind this matter is very complicated. Whether it involves Venice, Florence, Pisa, Milan and even Rome, there are people involved.
No one wants to see Prussia dominate the Holy Roman Empire. In this case, we have many alliances. Even if the Prussians want to do anything to us, don't forget that we can be.
It has not yet declined to that extent. Although there are only more than 10,000 troops on the surface, if the Prussians come to the city, we can summon another 10,000 troops.
Moreover, the allies around us will definitely not sit idly by!”
After hearing Domingo's bold words, Taclin planned to persuade him again, but after all, Domingo was a member of the ten-member parliament and one of the rulers of Venice. Although his family was close to the Sevo family.
, but if I anger Domingo, I am afraid my future life will definitely not be very good.
And if he is disgusted by Domingo and loses his current job, his status in the family will definitely plummet. After all, there are too many outstanding children in a powerful family.
April 30, 1794 at noon
Henry led the 4th Prussian Division to the city of Venice.
As early as the Fourth Division left the army's marching formation and rushed towards Venice, the Venetian scouts who had been cruising around the Prussian army quickly returned to Venice to report the information.
After obtaining the information, the top leaders of Venice did not dare to neglect and quickly sent people to confirm. After repeated confirmation, the Venetians finally confirmed that the Prussians sent troops to Venice.
The city of Venice, which achieved this result, immediately turned into chaos, and countless soldiers were summoned. Because it was already evening after confirming the news, countless soldiers were forced out of their beds and rushed to the city.
At the same time, more civil and political leaders were temporarily organized to start building fortifications around the city walls.
The Venetian Parliament also hurriedly sent representatives to Henry's army to inquire about their purpose, but all of these representatives were detained by Henry.
The busyness of nearly ten hours made Venice almost exhausted. Just when Venice was not fully prepared, the Prussian army had already appeared in the sight of the defenders at the top of the Venetian city.
When the defenders standing on the Venetian wall saw the Prussian army not far away, they began to sweat constantly in their palms.
The Prussians were very fast. It took less than a day for the Prussians to leave the army and the army was approaching the city of Venice.
As the alarm sounded, all the gates of Venice were closed, and all the soldiers gathered and assigned to their respective positions. In the Grand Parliament of the Republic of Venice, the fierce quarrel still did not stop.
Looking at the chaotic parliament scene in front of him, Domingo, who had been in the hall for more than ten hours, was exhausted. He asked Taklin beside him:
"Milan, Florence and Pisa's messenger have been sent out?"
"Sir, these messengers were sent out as soon as possible, but we don't know what the Prussians are going to do now. Is it a bit too early to ask for help?"
Faced with Tucklin's questions, Domingo rubbed his blood-filled eyes and said:
"The Prussians have not replied to us yet. It seems that there is a lot of danger. At this time, if the Prussians really launch an attack and ask for help, it will probably be too late!"